I spoke with Paul Frankel on the phone and we agreed that a response was necessary.
The format that was used and advertised was the same format that was used in recent USBA Tour Events. For example, at Chris’s Billiards in Chicago, we advertised the format as follows:
“Final Matches: (35 points)
Top 2 finishers of each semi-final group play single-elimination for 1st through 4th place
3rd place finishers of each semi-final group play for 5th and 6th place
4th place finishers of each semi-final group play for 7th and 8th place, etc.”
Notice that we didn’t advertise “Top finisher of each semi-final group”, but “Top 2 finishers of each group”. We also specified that they play for the top 4 positions and NOT for 1st and 2nd place. In retrospect, this could have been explained much better.
Chris’s Billiards:
http://www.usba.net/2010Tour-ChrisBillrdsOpen-9-10.asp
You will notice that in the semi-finals, Pedro Piedrabuena finished 1st in his semi-final group. But instead of playing the 1st place finisher of the other semi-final group, he played the 2nd place finisher of the other semi-final group, Luis Aveiga, and lost. Aveiga went on to win the tournament.
The same thing happened at Doral Billiards:
http://www.usba.net/2010Tour-DoralOpen-11-12.asp
Pedro Piedrabuena finished 1st in his semi-final group, but played Hugo Patino, who finished 2nd in his group. Patino won. You could argue that Pedro got screwed again. However, it could just as easily work to his benefit if he had finished his group in 2nd place.
We advertised the event as follows:
“Finals Format:
The Top 2 Finishers of each semi-finals flight will play Single-Elimination
(For 1st thru 4th places)
The Two 3rd Place Finishers will have one Play-Off Match
(For 5th and 6th place)
And so on and so on.”
Again, we used the same format in California at Edgie’s:
http://www.usba.net/2010Tour-EdgiesOpen-12-17.asp
We advertised as follows:
“Final Matches: (35 points)
Top 2 finishers finishers of each semi-final group play single-elimination for 1st through 4th place
3rd place finishers of each semi-final group play for 5th and 6th place
4th place finishers of each semi-final group play for 7th and 8th place, etc.”
Jae Hyung Cho finished 1st in his semi-final group and then played Vicky Pineda, who finished 2nd in his group. However, Jae Hyung Cho defeated Pineda and went on to win the tournament.
We advertised the Pendennis Club format in the same way:
“Top 2 finishers of each Semi Final flight will play single elimination for 1st through 4th place overall.
3rd place Finishers of each Semi Final flight play each other for 5th and 6th .
4th place Finishers of each Semi Final flight play each other for 7th and 8th.
5th place Finishers of each Semi Final flight play each other for 9th and 10th.”
So the format was NOT changed mid-stream. The problem was miscommunication. Also, many of the players at the event had not played under that format yet, so there was much confusion. But we DID intend to use that format from the beginning and I explained to everyone at the player’s meeting that if you finish in the top 4 after the semi-finals, that you would STILL have a chance to win the whole tournament. Most of the players DID remember that I said that, but I guess they didn’t understand fully.
The format, itself, can be criticized, of course. That’s fine. There is always going to be someone who doesn’t like a particular format. You can’t make everyone happy, that’s for sure. But Paul & I wanted to set the record straight. Neither one of us really cared about the overall outcome. Either way, the top 4 finishers were already qualified for the Nationals, so we were both already happy. Sure, it’s great to finish in 1st instead of 4th, but neither Paul nor I had any problems. We are the best of friends.
